Faculty Winds Add Special Guest Artist-March2016

The Arizona Wind Quintet, a long-time favorite of Arizona Senior Academy audiences, will return Tuesday (March 29) at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Room of the Academy. For this concert, they will add a special guest artist – UA Professor Rex Woods.

The program will feature a Fughetta and Fugue by J.S. Bach and the Quintet for Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Founded in 1975, the Arizona Wind Quintet performs regularly on campus and in the community. The group has toured throughout the western states including a recital at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference. The quintet often enhances its performances by inviting students from the Fred Fox School of Music at UA to “sit in.”

Members of the Quintet are:

William Dietz, professor of bassoon and wind chamber music, who has served on the faculty since 1983 and performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for 16 seasons.

Sara Fraker, assistant professor of oboe who joined the faculty in 2013, is also a member of the Tucson Symphony and spends summers at the Bay View Music Festival.

Daniel Katzen, professor of horn since 2008 and formerly with the Boston Symphony.

Jerry Kirkbride, professor of clarinet since 1987, who was clarinetist of the world famous Dorian Wind Quintet from 1980 until 2011.

Brian Luce, professor of flute, who has won numerous prizes and honors. He is an internationally recognized expert on Soviet Music and has given Master Classes world-wide.

Rex Woods, pianist, has performed in the US, Canada, Mexico, France, China and Australia and is well-known both as a soloist and chamber musician.

Testimonials

The Arizona Senior Academy provides a comfortable space with great acoustics … This ensures a great time for both audience and performer. It is a fantastic venue in a beautiful desert setting. The icing on the cake is the audience — engaged and eager to hear what the performer has to offer.

I’ve given public lectures around the world, and found the questions asked here at the ASA to be some of the most thoughtful and perceptive that I’ve ever gotten!

The first time I performed at the Arizona Senior Academy I offered two options to the audience for an encore: Chopin or Schoenberg. Who could imagine an audience whose resounding answer would be ‘SCHOENBERG!’ Clearly, this response demonstrates unusually open, perceptive ears!

Making presentations at the Arizona Senior Academy is always a joy and a challenge, because I have to work a little harder to stay one step ahead of the very sharp audience. … And the lovely desert location helps keep us all stimulated.

Performing at the Arizona Senior Academy, in their gorgeous location on the eastern side of Saguaro National Park East, is a high point of the year for both my students and myself. The audience and administration are very welcoming to UA students and faculty, and the subsequent question-and-answer period is always informative.

I’ve given talks in venues across the country, and I always look forward to returning to Academy Village. The setting is superb and the venue comfortable—and a speaker couldn’t ask for a more responsive, more receptive audience.

We have always enjoyed performing at the Academy. A gorgeous spot, a wonderful piano, a fantastic audience and exceptional hosts who make their guests feel really special. Does not get better than that!

The opportunity to preview University of Arizona concerts in such a receptive venue, both audience and acoustic-wise, makes the Senior Academy a unique place for us performers. … It is always a great pleasure to perform/lecture at the Arizona Senior Academy.

ASA is a very unique venue that offers a very intimate feel that I truly appreciate as a musician. … A Hidden Gem in the Desert.

Designed to bring together individuals with intellectual curiosity in a stimulating environment, [Academy Village] is a successful model for creative retirement that is being used by several other American universities.

A treasure on the eastside.

Playing at the Academy offers the performer the unique experience of an audience that is simultaneously appreciative and stimulating. The questions that follow can lead to unusual and thought-provoking turns of conversation, both during the performance hour and at the congenial luncheon that so often follows. What a great place to play!